Mirror - Vol. 05, No. 07 - October 8, 1981

              "The Image
of
Fairfield"
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Fairfield, Conn.
Volume 5, No. 7, October 8,1981 Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut 06430 Incorporated 1977
Commission Members Voice
Concern Over Townhouses
by Kathy O'Connor
Chris O'Brien
Fairfield University awaits the
out come of the September 29th
Fairfield Town Plan and Zoning
Commission hearing regarding
the 2.7 million dollar townhouse
construction plan.
The 90 minute hearing focused oh
two main questions: Could
townhouses easily be converted
to apartments?; Would a new nor-theastern
entrance to campus traf-fic
problems on North Benson
Road? University officials
responded 'no' to both questions.
Commission chairman John
Wrabel began the hearing by
stating "the commission has
received no written objections or
oral objections that I know of,"
regarding townhouse construc-tion.
John Fallon, attorney for
Fairfield University, presented the
campus housing proposal to the
commission. Referring to a letter
President Kelley had sent to
neighboring residents, Fallon ex-pressed
the University's Need to
construct the 50-unit complex.
"Fairfield has no intent to in-crease
its student body," Fallon
explains, "but the reduction of
available beach housing, due to
the increased winterization of
houses, is a serious problem."
Townhouse would accommodate
200 juniors and seniors who would
normally be beach residents.
Although a conventional four-story
dormitory would be more
economical, Fallon stated that
townhouses (consisting of two
bedrooms, living room, kitchen
and dining area and a private en-trance)
are the preferred housing
nationally...and Fairfield is trying
to remain competitive with
Georgetown and Boston College."
According to Fallon, townhouses
allow for "social maturity and
growth."
Commission members Myron
Hinckley, Brooks Barret, and
Bonne Evanko, each questioned
Fallon on the possibility of future
conversion of townhouses into
apartments or condominiums.
Responding three times to this is-sue,
Fallon explained reasons
which make it "not only unlikely,
but impossible" for townhouses
to be utilized as apartments: The
federal grant financing construc-tion
specifies funds must be used
for student housing; the need for
campus housing is increasing not
decreasing; the only way town-houses
could be sold or used as
apartments would be if the com-mission
approved a change of
zone. Commission members
seemed uneasy with the construc-tion
of 'apartment-like' structures
instead of 'real dormitories'.
Included in the construction
plans is an additional entrance to
the northeastern section of cam-pus
where townhouses will be
located. Fallon responded to con-cerns
that a new entrance would
Mooney Enlightens
Packed Oakroom
On Christian Scholar
by Stan L. Prager
Fr. Christopher F. Mooney
presented the first in the Bellar-mine
series concerning Peirre
Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
(1881-1955) to an over capacity
crowd at the Oakroom September
30th. Fr. Mooney, Faifield Univer-sity's
academic vice president and
author of the award-winning book,
Teilhard de Chardin and the
Mystery of Christ, is recognized in
scholarly circles as an authority
on Teilhard's life and works.
Teilhard was a priest and an-thropologist
who authored many
books on science and theology.
He was a controversial figure dur-ing
his lifetime, criticized in par-ticular
by the Roman Catholic
heirarchy for what were than
deemed most radical views. To-day,
Teilhard enjoys a recognition
and popularity among scholars
and layman alike.
As Fr. mooney points out, Teil-hard
was a visionary who wanted
to guide others towards a better
understanding of that vision. Dur-ing
his lifetime, he was often
criticized by those who viewed his
dual roles as scientist and priest
as contradictory. For Teilhard,
there was no conflict: as an an-thropologist,
he was firmly con-vinced
of the validity of the evolu-tionary
process; as a priest, he
recognized substance in the
Christian "myth" of Creation; as a
philosopher, he sought to syn-thesize
the two points of view.
While many regarded science and
religion as perspectives that were
quite diametricaly opposed to one
another, Teilhard sought a unity
that would reconcile the two in a
common world view of man. Fr.
Mooney explores the three levels
of thought prevalent in Teilhard's
approach: scientific, philos-ophical
and theological. Teilhard
dedicated his life towards a
greater understanding of man and
God, drawing on those three levels
of thought in an effort to unite
them in one definable cosmology.
As Fr. Mooney points out, Teil-hard
was a visionary who wanted
to guide others towards a better
That man evolved from lower
life forms did not, in Teilhard's
view, negate the Christian concept
of God; on the contrary, it only bet-ter
illustrated the wonder of God's
work. Teilhard believed that man is
the goal of evolution - that all the
eons of natural selection were
leading up to the birth of con-sciousness,
which he calls
"neogenesis", in the creation of
man. He was one of the first to
characterize man as part of a pro-cess
moving constantly, like the
evolutionary process, towards a
future. With the advent of con-sciousness,
Teilhard believed man
has achieved the ability to direct
that future within the framework
of a close personal relationship
with God.
After Fr. Mooney's lecture,
three guest speakers spoke briefly
on various approaches to
Teilhard's thought. Fr.^Robert
O'Connell discussed Teilhard as
scientist and philosopher; Fr.
George Maloney concentrated on
the theological aspects; and Fr.
Thomas King investigated Teil-hard
as mystic. After this, there
was a forum for questions from
the audience.
increase traffic on North Benson
Road. Referring to a study done on
the effect townhouses will have
on traffic, Fallon pointed out,
"traffic should decrease because
there will be 200 less students
driving to campus form the beach
each day." In addition, Fallon
predicted a northeastern entrance
might eliminate the congestion at
the main gate. It was also brought
to the commissions attention that
constructing the entrance was im-portant
for the safety of the
students.
The planning commision should
be voting within the next week on
granting the University a building
permit. However, chairman Wrabel
explained there is a slight pos-sibility
the hearings will be con-tinued,
since the first hearing was
held on the eve of the Jewish holi-day
which may have prevented
concerned residents from voicing
their opinions.
United Way: 81' Campaign
Begins
by Mary-Grace Quick
Campaigning for the United
Way has begun. Fifteen repre-sentatives
from Fairfield Univer-sity
attended the Campaign's of-ficial
commencement Septem-ber
23, at the Holiday Inn in
Bridgeport. The University is
especially involved this year
since Father Aloysius Kelly is
head of the entire Higher Educa-tion
sector. Father John Higgins
will be assisting him.
Resulting funds from the Cam-paign
will benefit a myriad of
diverse agencies. The Red Cross,
Goodwill, Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts and the Salvation Army
are only a few of the over forty
branches of the United Way.
Several Businesses, corpora-tions
and educational institu-tions
are major contributors to
the United Way. In past years
Fairfield University has been a
large contributor, last year
donating $14,600.
Father Kelley has delegated
Mr. Stephen Jakab, Assistant
Provost for Human Resourses,
as campus coordinator. The goal
for the 1982 campaign groups
and appointed twenty coordina-tors
covering every department
of the campus, notable employ-ees
of the Macke food service,
the maintenance staff and the
faculty.
Under the direction of FUSA
President Mike Bentivegna, Dae
Magrino and Sherri Saba are
planning functions for student
involvement. Last year students
contributed over $1,600 through
their work. The main event run by
FUSA is the combination Hallo-ween
dance-costume party, in
the Oakroom on Friday, October
30. the whole campus center will
be open that night with a movie
in the mezzanine and special
events in the Stag-Her. They are
striving for at least $1,000 from
these activities. Along with the
Holloween festivities Dae and
Sherri are planning a dorm floor
competition. Each floor Is to
have its own fund raising func-tion
and a prize will be awarded
to the floor that raises the most
money. Mr. Jakab feels confi-dent
that, "with the student
behind the campain and giving
their usual enthusiastic support,
this will be another success
story for our campus."
Fr. Christopher F. Mooney, S.J., who addressed an Oak Room cic
Wednesday night on the life of philosopher, theologian and scier..
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.